NC Fast slowing down county food stamp process

Tuesday

Aug 27, 2013 at 12:01 AMAug 27, 2013 at 5:57 PM

Food stamp clients in Alamance County should expect more delays in receiving their benefits for the next couple of months.

Michelle Poole, Alamance County Department of Social Services Economics Support Program Manager, said DSS staff was about four weeks behind in the food stamp recipient recertification process required by the new electronic delivery system. Poole addressed the delays during an Alamance County Social Services Board meeting on Tuesday.

“So on July 15 the state implemented some changes to NC FAST adding on some of the Medicaid piece (portion) for the pilot counties and when they did this it caused a lot of issues with the system for the food nutrition side which has caused staff to get three to four weeks behind in food nutrition services,” Poole said. “We just finished up with July recertifications last week and they just started August recertifications.”

On July 15, Medicaid eligibility determination capability was incorporated into the NC FAST system. This changed how data were entered by county DSS department workers to complete a Food and Nutrition Services application and recertification.

Poole said DSS staff members have been reassigned to speed up the process.

“We will slowly start to see a catch up but I imagine its going to take a couple of months to dig out of this hole,” she said.

The Alamance County Department of Social Services began using NC FAST in February. The system is designed to allow all 100 counties’ DSS departments to improve the way services are delivered. In the future, NC FAST will also provide access to child care, Medicaid, Work First, child welfare, adult and family services and emergency assistance benefits through a single online program.

About 150 to 200 clients a week are experiencing delays in receiving their food stamp benefits in a timely manner. Food stamp benefits are staggered throughout the month with distribution of benefits beginning on the third day of each month and ending on the 21st day of each month.

CountyDSSDirector Susan Osborne said staff wasn’t behind on its recertifications prior to the July 15 changes created by Medicaid. All counties are required to add Medicaid to their NC FAST delivery systems by Oct. 1.

Osborne said Johnston, Chatham, Carteret, and Orange counties were selected in mid-July to serve as pilot counties for providing Medicaid benefits through the NC FAST system. The remaining counties were scheduled to roll out Medicaid through NC FAST each Monday through Oct. 1. Osborne said that no other counties besides the pilot counties have launched Medicaid through NC FAST.

CountyManagerCraig Honeycutt expressed his concerns with the Medicaid implementation process during the meeting and the lack of communication from the state on the issue.

“In talking to the other managers I think the big concern is the Medicaid,” Honeycutt said. “When the Medicaid is added to it, and you know we can’t handle food stamps, but they are planning to implement the Medicaid side. I think they have to by Oct. 1 for the Affordable Care Act,” Honeycutt said. “I think part of what the managers were concerned about is just communication and a consistent message and a timeframe, but they are not being consistent they are not communicating they are not doing anything.”

AlamanceCountyisn’t alone in delivering food stamp benefits to clients in an untimely manner. Delays in the conversion process have also been experienced in Davidson, Guilford and Forsyth counties over the past six months.

There are 12,000 food stamp clients served by the Alamance County Department of Social Services. The NC FAST launch requires DSS to recertify the county’s food stamp clients, transferring data from the former paper system to the new electronic system. About 2,000 cases are being converted each month to the new system.

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